


Forever

by dragonwings948



Series: Wonderland [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: (sort of), Audio 052: Scherzo, Divergent Universe (Doctor Who), Introspection, Love, Love Confessions, POV Charley Pollard, POV Multiple, POV The Doctor (Doctor Who), Songfic, Stargazing, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25387723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: Charley makes a wish. | The Doctor considers the concept of forever in a universe with no time.
Relationships: Eighth Doctor & Charley Pollard, Eighth Doctor/Charley Pollard
Series: Wonderland [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814560
Comments: 6
Kudos: 7





	Forever

_We found Wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it_

_And we pretended it would last forever_

_We found Wonderland_

_You and I got lost in it_

_And life was never worse but never better_

**Then…**

“There!” Charley pointed up at a red fish swimming above them in the water.

“No, I’m afraid not. Burgundy, Charley, I said _burgundy.”_

Charley huffed. “How much of a difference is there, anyway?” she muttered under her breath. Still, her irritation wore off in a moment as she watched the fish and other aquatic creatures moving about in the sky—or rather, the ocean that _was_ the sky. She was still trying to wrap her head around it.

She turned her head to catch a glimpse of the Doctor’s face as he lay beside her. His expression was only dimly illuminated by the glowing blue stuff on the ground that was apparently a completely harmless, naturally occurring algae. With the Doctor’s eyes on the ocean above, Charley took a moment to study him unobserved. She thought she had never seen him so relaxed, so…happy. A small smile played at his lips. His hands were underneath him, supporting his head. He even began to hum quietly.

Charley smiled, simply happy that he was happy. When he’d suggested they do some stargazing, Charley had insisted she was in the mood for something a bit different.

“Different?” the Doctor had said, a telltale gleam in his eye. Charley had almost immediately regretted her words.

So now here they were, lying side by side and… _what would be the right word…_ fishgazing?

Something in the ocean caught Charley’s eye. “There!” She sat up excitedly. “That’s burgundy, isn’t it?”

The Doctor didn’t move, but he smiled up at her. “It certainly is, Charley, you’ve just won yourself a wish. What’ll it be?”

“Well I can’t tell you, can I?” She settled back down beside him, just close enough that she could feel the gentle brush of velvet against her arm.

“Oh, come on. You just saw the lucky Swinterfreg koi. Bad luck doesn’t work against that.”

“Give me a moment to think.” Charley tried to reflect on what she would wish for, but what good was a wish when you already had everything you needed? If she had control of the universe, she would live this life forever.

_That’s it._

“My wish,” she said simply, “is to travel with you forever.”

The Doctor said nothing for a long while. Charley found herself a little nervous to look at his reaction, so she continued to watch the ocean as some kind of porpoise-like creature jumped out of the water and back in again.

“Forever is a long time,” the Doctor said quietly.

“Well you know, not _actually_ forever. Just as long as I’m alive, I suppose.” She lifted herself onto one arm and pushed her hair behind her ear so she could meet his eyes. “And don’t sound so disappointed. Are you tired of me already?”

“Tired of you?” The Doctor propped himself up as well and leaned towards her. “Of course not. I’d never get tired of you.”

Charley searched his expression. “Then why be so grumpy about it?”

A crease appeared between the Doctor’s eyebrows. He lay back down and trained his gaze on the watery sky. “Nothing lasts forever, Charley, not even me. Sooner or later, everyone leaves.”

“Not me.” Charley took his hand and breathed a short laugh. “The universe itself would have to tear me apart from you.”

“Charley, don’t say that.”

“Even if it can’t last forever,” she continued, “I can wish for more time, can’t I? All the time we can possibly have.” She settled back down at his side, _maybe_ scooting a couple inches closer than she had been. “It can be our forever.”

The Doctor still looked pensive, but his expression softened and he interlaced their fingers. “Our forever,” he agreed.

* * *

**Now…**

_Forever._

That’s what she’d said all that time ago as they gazed up at the sky full of fish.

Now, when the Doctor was faced with immediate and total destruction, he thought of it again. How ironic to consider the concept of forever in a universe with no time.

_“Would you die again?”_

The sound creature was persistent, but if the Doctor was going to die, he was going to have his moments of reflection first.

A silly part of his brain wondered if Charley’s wish had actually worked—if some strange cosmic power in the universe had heard her and given them all this time. He wondered if Charley would see her wish as fulfilled if he died now.

Somehow, he doubted she’d be satisfied. Neither was he, come to think of it.

But their time had run out. Quite literally.

_“Would you die again?”_

Maybe this was all wrong. Maybe he should have never met Charley. Maybe none of this was ever supposed to happen.

But it didn’t matter. Because right now when he was lost, she was there by his side like she’d always been.

“I love Charley.”

The “maybes” meant nothing. Neither did the laws of time or the will of the universe. Loving Charley was a fact, the one thing he could hold onto in this place of uncertainty.

“I don’t quite know what that means.”

Because it meant everything. It meant time when there was no time. It meant forgiveness when there should have been hate. It meant sacrifice when he had every right to be selfish.

“I don’t know whether it’s strength, or weakness, or insanity. But I love her.”

He _would_ die for her. He’d choose her every single time. Because not only was loving her a fact, but a _promise—_

—a promise of their forever.


End file.
